And Happy Sunday to you, I am so glad Sunday is here, I have scheduled an official day off with a schoolwork BAN and it is lovely! It’s nice and early in the morning and I’ve been baking… these muffins to be precise, but instead of chocolate in the middle I’ve put a huge lump of cream cheese. I’m hoping they make it out to my Mum’s place, it is ridiculously hard to just eat one….

Anyway, a while ago I thought that I would like to introduce you to some of the people who inspire my craftiness and the first person I thought of was Miss Tracee from maude and me. You know by now that I have a slight addiction to maude and me fibres, I buy it from Holland Road Yarn Company on a regular basis because it is so irresistably amazing and even though I’m loving dyeing my own fibre, there is nothing like a braid dyed by an expert to create a happy afternoon of spinning! I don’t believe I’ve shown you my latest purchase….

It would have been a shame to leave one behind… I might want to make something that needs 240gms of wool!

So I sent Tracee a message on ravelry asking if she would mind answering a few questions and featuring on Crochet with Raymond and she said that might be nice, so I sent her a mini-interview and here it is! I hope you enjoy getting to know Tracee and Maude a bit better!

To begin with, tell us all about maude and me! How did it all begin and how has it grown?A couple months into spinning, i was slightly getting bored with the browns, creams and grays. i really needed some color. i looked around all over nz and at that time no one seemed to be dyeing fiber. maybe i wasn’t looking hard enough? who knows. anyways, hello dyeing! i started dyeing for myself and all was going well, but soon after decided to start selling on trademe. why not share with other new zealanders in need of color, right? well, that went okay, but it limited myself to only new zealanders. i had been on etsy before as a buyer and decided to have a shop as a seller. it all went on from there. i still sell on etsy, but am now selling at holland road yarn co. in petone. spun out in australia stocks my fiber and every now and again i make it into wellington for the frank kitts market.

I want them all... every single one....

When did you learn to spin? (Please say ages ago because you are so damn good I don’t want to hear ‘last year!’ ha ha) And who taught you?

i started spinning right after i moved from christchurch to the frozen tundra known as dunedin. i was slightly saddened by the lack of yarn in new zealand and felt that i needed to just make my own! i called around asking people to teach me and no one was up for it. i then called pat robertson of clifton wool’n things and she said that she would as long as i brought my own wheel and three bobbins. that same day i was on trademe and picked on up for $50. awesome! pat is an amazing woman who taught herself to spin in the early 70’s and had her own black and colored sheep. she was very patient and was a fantastic teacher.

Tracee's spinning blows my mind... it is ridiculously perfect

Wheel or drop spindle, and why?

for me, i prefer my majacraft. i do love the look of spindles and have a fair few, but my wheel suits me and my spinning style. my sourkraut spindles are lovely though. i love that they are portable and i enjoy taking them to the grocery store or the movies. you do get the looks though! i do find i am less patient with the spindle since my wheel is so fast! my majacraft bobbins are so massive as well, so they hold a ton of fiber.

Fess up, how big is your stash!

as far as much stash is concerned, i like to justify it by saying that it’s insulating this cold new zealand house that i’m living in.

Maude is beautiful but you know that! How long have you had her and what is she really like in person?

maude is beautiful! thank you for noticing. she’s a british shorthair of the silver tabby coloring. i’ve had her since 2007. my boyfriend bought her for me right before we moved down to dunedin from christchurch. she was the most timid cat ever and there was no way i was going to leave her with the woman selling her. i don’t think she ever even pet her or gave her hugs. i had to save her! she’s been with me since. maude is now a totally spoilt jerk cat that hogs the bed. she’s on special hypo-allergic cat food that costs me a small fortune, but i wouldn’t have it any other way.

my favorite color is orange. i listen to a lot of minus the bear. the greatest film ever is the shining and my favorite food is chips and salsa.

For more of Tracee’s beautiful work, photos and maude, have a look at her flickr page, it is worth a click! I hope you’ve enjoyed meeting Tracee and are feeling as inspired as I am after a look at her colourful dyeing and spinning! If you would like to leave a message for her about her fibre/ sales/ gorgeous Maude feel free to in the comment bit below.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, I’m going to take the five remaining muffins (yes, I stopped at one), a leek (for soup I presume) and some of my Noro stash (I’ll show you what she’s going to make soon!) out to Mum’s to do some dyeing of my own!

Sending you lots of love and happy thoughts,

from Alice and Raymond XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

18 Responses to Interviewing Miss Tracee

Oh, how lovely! Maude is pretty although I prefer Raymond. I love that little pet jacket, don’t know if it is for Maude or for a dog. I’d love to knit one for my friends little puppy when she gets it, it’s a Norfolk terrier, quite small. Is there a pattern?

What a fabulous post Alice, how incredible is all that yarn…oh WOW I can definitely say I have some yarn envy now. I love Tracee’s kitty cat too, but Raymond rules! Oh to be in a cold house insulated by yarn….I can only dream… {I think I’ll use this as a perfect excuse when my stash grows over winter- he he}.
Once you’ve had a taste of the good fibre why choose the crappy stuff! I completely agree xox happy days with your mum and Richie too xox

A real colour fest, so gorgeous! Really want to take up spinning now, but if I bring a spinning wheel into the house someone will have to move out to make room, and it won’t be Higgins! Thanks for the great interview, to you both.

What a fabulous post. It’s such a delightful idea with the interview and I loved reading it.

I just learned to spin yesterday!! :D – and I love love love it. I want my own spinning wheel and some of those gorgeous fibers from maude and me. And thank you , Alice, for as always a very inspiring post. I love the way you write and all the pics. that comes with you stories.

Question one: If you spin, are you called a spinner? And if yes, does spinner mean cracy human being? (Like in Swiss German and German).
Question two: Do people who love spinning love cats? I mean not normal cats like mine, but special ones like Raymond and Maude?

Your post really cheered me up this morning when I was feeling self pitying and ill! You needed to know that of course… Maude is awesome but looks like a Fifi to me! Probably because my friend J had one just like her! Those dyed (and spun) wools are absolutely beautiful looking. I just bought my first nice yarn which has been dyed and spun so it knits in rainbows – something must be rubbing off on me Alice!!

Wow! How absolutely stunning! Wish I could do that too. Love the cats, being a huge cat fan myself. Muffins also look so goooood, but I am on a sort of diet, no muffins for me! Busy knitting a blanket using wool made from our Karoo merino sheep. Bought the wool, no luck in spinning it myself, though! Have a lovely day!